Incidence of De Quervain’s thyroiditis during the COVID-19 pandemic in an area heavily affected by Sars-CoV-2 infection

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the possible association between Covid-19 infection and subacute thyroiditis. Methods We reviewed the medical and imaging records of patients referred to our Department’s outpatient setting dedicated to ‘thyroid emergency’ (records with a ‘bollino verde’—green sticker, classifed as urgent) from April 2020 to October 2020. This outpatient clinic is devoted to patients requiring evaluation for severe hypothyroidism, thyrotoxicosis and neck discomfort or pain. All patients with a newly-diagnosed subacute thyroiditis were selected. The data of all patients receiving a diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis was collected retrospectively, taking into account the same period of time (April–October) and starting from 2016. Results During the COVID-19 outbreak in our region (April 2020 to October 2020) 396 patients attended the outpatient emergency clinic. Among them, 10 (2.5%) patients received a diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis. In a single patient, a 44-year-old man, a COVID-19 pulmonary infection had been diagnosed 7 weeks before the diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis. All of the remaining patients were and remain COVID-19 free as confirmed by telephone interview. The percentage of patients who received a diagnosis of subacute thyroiditis in the same period starting from 2016 was very similar (2.9%, 2.9%, 2.6% and 3.0% in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively). Conclusions Our data do not show an increase in the incidence of subacute thyroiditis in the Brescia area, a region with the highest prevalence of COVID-19 in Italy during the period of the pandemic outbreak.

COVID-19-Associated Subacute Thyroiditis: Evidence-Based Data From a Systematic Review

“…This paper highlighted, from a slightly different point of view, that thyroid dysfunction is frequently observed in COVID-19 patients, regardless of the underlying thyroid disease, and physicians should be aware of its possible occurrence. The fact that no extreme increases in the number of SAT cases occurred in the last months, even in areas greatly affected by COVID-19 (59), could be due to the fact that social distancing measures and mask use reduced the diffusion of other SAT-causative viruses, similarly to what happened with the H1N1 virus (60).…”

Subacute thyroiditis during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective study

“…Although some authors thought the incidence of SAT is higher than expected in the general population during the pandemic [ 39 ], a study comparing the frequency of SAT among patients admitted to their centers during the pandemic with previous years showed that there was no increase in incidence [ 40 ]. In another study examining SAT cases during 2016–2020, a comparable number of SAT patients per year was reported from a single center [ 41 ].…”

A Case of Subacute Thyroiditis following COVID-19 Infection

“…In an Italian case series, it was found that, of ten patients referred due to SAT, there were four patients who had evidence SARS-CoV-2 infection [ 10 ]. However, another one from Italy concluded that there was no increase in incidence of subacute thyroiditis during the pandemic period in the city of Brescia [ 11 ]. A systematic analysis conducted by Giovanella et al, including seven studies and 1237 COVID-19 patients, shows that thyroid dysfunction (defined as abnormal thyroid function tests) varies among the included studies between 13 and 64% [ 12 ].…”